Vote Now: The Esquire TV Seasons Bracket, Elite Eight

Mad Men vs. Breaking Bad?

Some tough calls had to be made in round one of the Golden Age TV Seasons Bracket determining the best dramatic season in our new millennium of TV. (Two of the toughest? The Raylan Givens vs. Rick Grimes battle between season two of Justified and season two of The Walking Dead, and the tear-jerker throwdown between Six Feet Under season five and Friday Night Lights season one.) But you made those calls, and now this bracket is down to its extremely Elite Eight.

Advertisement - Continue Reading Below

The decisions only get harder from here. Game of Thrones season three against Lost season one? Don Draper versus Walter White? The Wire season four versus Friday Night Lights season one? Like we said: harder. So: Agonize. Choose. Vote, by Thursday, March 27, at 5 p.m. EST. Then check back in on Friday to find out who made it to our Final Four. (Download a larger bracket here.)

My Lord, that Justified vs. Walking Dead vote-off was a close one. But Justified's second season — complete with its extensive focus on the dysfunctional, sketchy-hillbilly Bennett clan — ultimately emerged triumphant, by a mere 57 votes. Which means it must face off against the show that features the most famous criminally-connected TV family in recent history: The Sopranos. In a lot of ways, it makes total sense for these seasons to be paired up since both are about the minefields that explode during major family feuds. The Sopranos may appear to be the higher seed here, for good reason; one could argue that, in many ways, it's the godfather (cough) of all the TV dramas included in this bracket. Still, season two of Justified... well, as Mags Bennett might tell you (if she still could): It's as intense and American as apple pie moonshine.

How much would you pay to watch King Joffrey of Game of Thrones battle the Smoke Monster from Lost? No need, my friends, since that battle is happening right here and right now, in this corner of this Esquire bracket. But this is not just a fight for supremacy between a snot-nosed-punk royal and a wisp of menacing air. It's also a showdown between wry Tyrion Lannister comments and James "Sawyer" Ford sarcasm; gutsy, dragon-friendly heroine Daenerys Targaryen and ballsy, law-breaking anti-heroine Kate Austen; White Walkers and intimidating polar bears; and, of course, Red Weddings and exploding Arzts. May the most thrilling season of fantasy/mainstream sci-fi win.

Name two seasons of TV drama that authentically capture how it looks and feels to grow up in America. These two — one with its twitchy-camera view of small-town Texas high school football, the other a gritty peek into urban Baltimore politics — would likely rise to the top. The question is: Between them, which is number one and which is number two? Do you favor the struggles of Friday Night Lights' shy, sudden QB Matt Saracen, or the hardships faced by The Wire's equally shy, often bullied Dukie Weems? The bluster of Buddy "Dillon Panther for life" Garrity or the swagger of Sen. Clay "Sheeeiiiit" Davis? The clear-eyed full-heartedness of Coach Eric Taylor, or the generosity of retired-police-commander-turned-school-system-researcher Bunny Colvin? Yeah, as TV brackets go, this is as Sophie's Choice as it gets.

Or wait... Is this as Sophie's Choice as TV brackets get? That's right: AMC's marquee leading men go head to head in a competition that may give Breaking Bad an edge, since its pulse-pounding final run of episodes is still so fresh in our minds, as well as in our quickened heart rates and churned stomachs. (Oh, "Ozymandias," you wonderful hour of anxiety-provoking, baby-kidnapping TV drama: We love you for almost sending us to the hospital.) But don't sell that third season of Mad Men short. It gave us the reveal of Don's true identity to Betty; the blackmailing of Don by Bert Cooper; an amazing episode set against the backdrop of John F. Kennedy's assassination; and Peggy Olson higher than the highest floor in the skyscraper that houses the offices of Sterling Cooper. Is all of that enough to win out over ricin-laced Stevia and a Skyler White knife fight? You decide.